True Beauty
by SailorSkywalker
Summary: When Maka Albarn, saviour of the world, is given some life-altering news, she sets off on a journey to find true beauty. All the while, ticking off her bucket list that seems to keep going missing. Throw in a grieving Spirit Albarn, an angry Soul Evans and a certain Tsubaki who is determined for Maka to make the most of life, she is sure to have a strange last six months!


Maka Albarn sat in front of the doctor, tears welling up in her dark green eyes. This wasn't how she wanted to go, not at all, Maka had expected to have a few more years left in her - at least.

The most important thought that came to mind was how to inform Soul of the ... complication. How would he react to that bombshell?

That was the part that Maka dreaded the most; not dying, or the pain, but saying goodbye. Leaving her friends, her family and knowing that, in the end, their lives will move on - without her.

"Miss Albarn, would you like to make a call? To inform someone of your illness?" The doctor asked, with pitying eyes and a small smile that only added to Maka's aggravation.

Her hands balled into fists, with her forehead creasing into a frown. She needed some alone time, time to reflect on the situation.

Lifting her head upwards, she replied to the doctor with a heart-shattering 'no thank you' that nearly broke the doctor's stone-cold facade.

Taking her leave with a soft 'thanks' and a gentle push of the recently-occupied chair. Maka's tears only started to flow when her hand clasped the door handle; where they ran down her cheeks like streams.

"Thank you for your time." She softly breathes while opening the door in an equally soft manner. Always repeating gratitude.

She's too shellshocked to think of anything else as she drifts down the bare corridor; she feels too numb to set her mind on anything else. What started as a small headache had escalated into something life-changing. Something that could take her life away.

As Maka walked, hunched over in a defeated manner, she couldn't help but pick apart the hum of chatter around her. All these people, with all these problems; yet they could take about all these meaningless things all the time. It reminded her of a past version - of herself - a million miles away, blabbering on to Soul about a book that she'd never finished.

Would she ever finish it? She hoped so. Another book to bury with her.

She stopped. Her reflection leered at her from the corner of her eye, defeated and washed out. All with a hat, precariously placed upon her head. Soul thought it looked funny, Maka thought it hid the bald spot.

'There's no point in hiding it now.' Maka thought forlornly, pulling off the red hat with a resounding finality.

Another frown appeared when Maka contemplated how lank her duo of pigtails appeared; that's when it stuck her, hard like a brick:

Before she died, she would find the ultimate beauty.

She could finally prove to her dad, to Soul and every god-forsaken arrogant human who thinks that beauty is only skin deep, that they were wrong. She, Maka Albarn, would leave the world in such beauty. It was decided.

•+•

Maka walked home. It was nice to clear her mind and decide what she was going to do with her last months.

In the end, after a much serious debate, Maka decided that she would write a bucket list; it made things a lot easier to deal with. She always liked her lists anyway. She could pretend like it was normal.

That's something she would miss - normal. Nothing would be the same now; every day she would breathe and live, knowing her clock was ticking and she was on the death row for innocents. No one would treat her normal. Not anymore.

A cold, bitter, breeze blew through the road; encouraging Maka to wrap her arms around herself. Although, to any passer-by it would seem like it was an action made to generate heat, it was actually just a way of consoling herself. The wind knew.

There. Another inclination for yet another round of tears to cascade down Maka's face; though she defeated Asura and slated countless facets of evil, she still could not control her own fear. At the end of the day she was as weak as any other human; emotionally and physically. Part of it made Maka sick, not because it made her feel like anyone else but because she couldn't change anything; life would always go on and there was nothing she could even do about it.

A small spark of an idea erupted in Maka's mind, an idea that had to take wing. Maka would call her mum - she would know what to do. Maybe she could provide some ideas for Maka's list, maybe she could come back, maybe she would help her get better.

With the splatter of ensuing rain Maka began to run, her feet slapping the damp ground with a frantic pace. Her tears could now be masked in the downpour but her resolve was final now, she was going to try and make a difference to this world and she vowed to find true beauty.

Pushing open the front door, after jamming the stupid key in that stupid lock, Maka timidly stepped into the home that she and Soul shared. She knew no one was home, she could tell from the vacant silence that engulfed the house.

Still, even though no one is home Maka knows her time is limited. Soul will be home soon and Blair could appear at any given time; then she'd be expected to act like nothing was wrong.

It was sickening.

She charged into her room, opening her laptop in a blinding flurry. It was barely even a minute before she had opened the video-call app. Upon seeing the green sphere indicating her mother was available, Maka's heart fluttered as she started the call. How do you start a conversation such as this?

Maka decided to start it with a small 'Mum, I love you.' Before breaking down in tears.


End file.
